


don't forget me

by niniadepapa



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Basically, also cristina and meredith's friendship feels everywhere, bcs the persons concept hits me everytime, this is mostly red swan brotp with a hint of captain swan and mentions of frankenwolf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-13
Updated: 2014-08-13
Packaged: 2018-02-13 00:50:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2130831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niniadepapa/pseuds/niniadepapa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>that's what persons are for</p>
            </blockquote>





	don't forget me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AMiserableLove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMiserableLove/gifts).



> i met this gal via private messages on ff.net. she was super sweet and nice and i remember she told me she had read one of my messages when she was out getting wasted and she flipped and i was truly surprised bcs she sounded so much like me (coincidentally, i myself was drowning in tequila shots that night). you may know her as tumblr user amiserablelove25. i know her as col, the ruby to my emma, or my person along with cee. she has a really special day coming her way and i was emotional and wanted to do sth for her. alas i am a poor student and can't art at all, so i thought about one of our favorite things in the world - aka ruby and emma's potential friendship bcs yeah show, if you don't give me any ruby i will give you ruby in every single freaking fic i write - and here we are.

After a round of knocking on her door that she had been more than happy to ignore while she finished watching the last episode of her favorite TV show, Emma finally relented. Not bothering to wear any slippers - bless the heavy rugs on her apartment which she had definitely  _not_  chosen at the shop, leaving that to her not-fashion-challenged friends - she grumbled under her breath as she made her way to the front door. She opened and found Ruby, carrying a rather large bag in her arms. “What the  _hell_  are you doing here?”

Her friend shook herself, whatever it was inside the bag clinking loudly. “Let me in. I’m freezing my ass off here.”

Emma leaned over the doorframe, staring at her in amazement. “Ruby, it’s the night before  _your_   _wedding_. Shouldn’t you be home with Victor...?”

Expecting some lame excuse, Ruby surprised her by just giving her a look.

They stared at each other for a moment, until Emma sighed. 

“...freaking out and showing up here anyway?” Ruby nodded, shrugging, and ignored her as she stepped inside, leaving the bag on the floor as she rapidly rid herself of her coat, red beanie and scarf. Emma followed her movements with a raised eyebrow, and checked out the grandfather clock standing proudly in her living room. 8:15. Turning to Ruby again, she raised an eyebrow. “I just expected you a bit later.”

(She really had. Knowing Ruby, she had given her a couple of hours until she lost it and came over to properly freak out with her.)

Ruby bent down - her personal trick to make every male on the planet do her biding, something Emma had found out through the years, - and picked up two bottles of wine from the bag. She showed them to her with a proud grin. “I brought booze.”

Emma crossed her arms over her chest, exasperated. “We can’t get drunk tonight.”

“Just a little bit?,” she declared with a pout. 

Emma whimpered. She had expected a nice, quiet night before her best friend’s wedding, and now the to-be bride was standing before her with one hell of a wine - seriously, Rioja? Holy shit, - begging her to get drunk.

There must have been something going on for sure. 

She should definitely tell her to go home after a long pep-talk. That’s what best friends did.

Sadly, Emma and Ruby weren’t your usual kind of best friends. 

She offered her her arm, already regretting her decision. “Gimme that.”

Ruby just snickered, and they both turned to the kitchen in search of some glasses to get the evening started. 

(.)

 

“Let’s dance,” Ruby stated somewhere later, standing from the couch and swaying her hips to nonexistent music. Emma gulped the last of her glass, leaving it carefully over her Granny’s themed coaster and glaring at her. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Ruby stopped altogether, and the cautious way in which she stared at Emma made her cock an eyebrow in surprise. “See, this is why I needed to come.”

“What?”

Pointing an imperious finger at her, Ruby plopped down beside her. “You.”

Emma shook her head, completely lost. “Wait - you’re here for  _me_?” 

Funny, considering Ruby was the one getting married and freaking out because of it. And suddenly she claimed she was at her place for her?  _Ha_. Nice try, Lucas. 

Ruby huffed, giving her a look. “Don’t make me say it.”

“Say what?,” Emma asked, throwing her hands in the air. The brunette carefully picked up the blanket she kept there in case she fell asleep watching something on TV or reading, and started picking at its hem. 

“Since all the wedding stuff started, you’ve been... twister than usual,” she finally revealed, and Emma gasped. 

“How  _dare_  you. I’ve been my usual twisted self, thank you very much.”

Ruby scowled, looking at her almost pityingly. “Don’t pull that bullshit with me. You know it’s true.”

Emma’s shoulders slumped, as she reclined on the couch, letting her head fall so it rested against her friend’s. “Ruby, you know I’m not good with... all of  _that_. I thought you’d rather have Mary Margaret or Aurora helping you out with the girly stuff.”

There was a chuckle, and the blanket was suddenly placed over their entangled legs, just as they had done dozens of times since Emma had moved into her apartment. “I know that -  _God_ , if I had let all of that on your hands, I’d probably get married in a black dress at some dark alley.”

Emma rolled her eyes. She wasn’t  _that_  bad, honestly. She just didn’t really care if flower arrangements were orchids or roses. It wasn’t a crime not to be well-versed in wedding planning, right? 

“It doesn’t mean I’m less happy for you and Victor, though,” she confessed, almost afraid to look at her. She was worried now that  _that_  was what had brought Ruby there that night. Suddenly, Ruby’s hand was holding hers, and she peeked from the corner of her eye at her friend, whose smile had turned soft and warm.

“I know.”

Emma let out a breath, relieved. She turned to look at her fully, confused. “Then what is it?”

There was a pause, and she noticed Ruby’s hand slightly trembling in hers, fingers moving and lacing and untangling with hers. It wasn’t usual for her friend to get this nervous, or insecure - she was all blunt truths and raw edges and fierce words and pouty lips.

Her finger traced a silent word over Emma’s skin. Finally, she murmured, “I can see you drifting away from me.”

She was so startled, she actually jumped, her hand flying from hers with a resounding slap. “What?”

Ruby took a deep breath, and tucked her legs under her before turning to face her, stern and serious. “Emma, I have known you for years, you’re my  _best friend_ , and I can see what you’re doing. I came here because I can’t bear for you to see me get married thinking you’re gonna lose me.”

Emma’s lip quivered almost imperceptibly (or so she told herself). “I don’t think...”

“You do.”

“I don’t. I’m actually glad to let Victor handle you all on his own,” she tried with a nervous laugh, waving her hand in the air as she made a shooing motion. Yeah, Victor, the time has come. She’s all yours. 

The thought gripped at something inside of her, and she fought to keep the shaky smile on her face.

She should have known better, though, because Ruby didn’t buy it. Instead, she picked up Emma’s hand once more, inching closer to her and giving her a pleading look. “Emma, please  _talk_  to me.”

They spent a whole minute in silence, as Emma stared at the blanket thrown over them, the colors and shapes over its surface and recalling how she had had to wash it that time Ruby used it to clean a cocoa stain on the floor after she broke her favorite mug - and had replaced with another one a week later. Another time they had used it to cover themselves once their friend’s Robin had brought his son, Roland, and Emma and Ruby had played hide and seek with him. Or the time she had to put it over a friend’s dog they’d been taking care of, Pongo, so he’d let Emma leave the house for work - he had been sitting in front of the front door, set on not letting the girls leave the place no matter what.

They had lived so much together. They were a team; they were Blossom and Bubbles, Dylan and Natalie, Mary Kate and Ashley (Ruby insisted on being Ashley, who cared if the Olsen’s were blonde?). She couldn’t even recall a time when Ruby wasn’t there, even if there was, but she chose not to think about it. 

Emma liked things that stayed the same, had craved peace all of her life. 

She was just afraid that things would change. 

She owed her friend to tell her the truth, though, so she just let it spill from her lips in barely a whisper. “I just... Victor will be your person from now on, and I won’t be anymore. And I don’t know how to stop being your person.” She belatedly realized that she had started crying, and she wiped at her eyes with a choked laugh. “I can’t believe I am jealous of Victor Whale of all people.”

Ruby stayed silent for all moment, and then slapped her arm of all things. Emma howled, slapping her back, and Ruby stopped her by catching her hands in one of hers and immobilizing her. Not that it was too difficult, mind you - Emma could take on her any day, but she just felt too tired and emotionally drained to fight back at the moment.

“You’re  _so wrong_  on so many levels,” Ruby said, and Emma rolled her eyes. 

“Am I?”

“You  _so_  are.” She let go of her hands, and stared intently at her. “Victor will be my husband, my other half, the love of my life - possibly father of my children... but you and I? We’re  _soulmates_ , woman. You will always be my person, no matter how many guys I marry.”

Emma smiled through her tears, - because  _of course_ once the watergates were opened, they were impossible to stop. “Do you think you should be saying stuff like that before your wedding?”

Ruby clicked her tongue dismissively. “Screw that.” 

They both shared a laugh, and Emma unconsciously sat closer to her friend, putting her head on her shoulder. They both reveled in the silence around them, the ticking of the clock the only sound breaking the quiet until she decided to speak again, words catching in her throat.

“He’ll be your family.”

Ruby snorted. “You’ve been my family since I met you in our shared room at the dorms.”

“But it’s not the same,” she tried, and Ruby groaned, as if she was completely done with having to have that conversation with her. (Because she  _was_.)

“Emma, blood relations or a signed paper don’t mean shit to me.  _You_  are my family. The end.”

Emma shuffled on her seat, wishing that the cushion would swallow her or teleport her to her bed or whatever, - anything so she wouldn’t have to feel Ruby’s all-too-perceptive eyes on her. With a loud sigh, her friend put an arm over her shoulders, crushing her to her side to whisper in her ear.  

“You know why you’re my person?”

Emma just nodded, and thought of how the two of them must look: like two little girls, heads together, whispering in the dimly lit room, sharing secrets. 

But they were not little girls anymore. 

Ruby cleared her throat and started counting on one hand. “You have stuck with me since day one and never looked back. You believed in me and encouraged me to do better for myself, quit that shitty job and do what I wanted. You always picked my side whenever I had a fight with Victor - and I hope you will keep doing that, as I expect they won’t magically disappear just because we get married.”

Emma snorted, bumping her fist with Ruby’s as she made and explosion sound. “You got it.”

Ruby grinned at Emma’s chipper voice, and went on. “You let me drag you through every single store in this city and even joined me at the gym when I asked you to.”

“I will never forgive you for that zumba lesson,” Emma pointed out, her still sore legs protesting at the thought of going back to do what Ruby considered ‘healthy exercise’ but she wouldn’t call anything but torture instead. She was shushed with an impatient sound. 

“Shut up, I’m getting emo here.” Flipping a lock of dark hair over her shoulder, she met her stare, emotion stealing her pretty features. “You checked out on me and Skyped twice every week when I was abroad for  _an entire year_  to make sure I was okay and happy and not starving.”

She felt herself tearing up again, dammit. Instead of claiming how she had only done so to verify she hand’t indeed starved herself to death in an unknown country, she spoke the truth. “I just missed you.”

“And I you.” There was a pause, and after taking a sharp inhale of breath, Ruby’s voice picked up the pace, speaking all too fast as she counted. “You are the only one who will get drunk and dance with me when I need it without thinking I’m being childish or stupid. You made up names for every guy I dated and threatened them if they dared to hurt me. You pick up the phone at any hour so I can rant over whatever it is I am thinking.” She let out a laugh, smirking as she turned her head to look at her pointedly. “For fuck’s sake, I crawl into your bed just because.”

“And if idiots like Wash can’t handle my hot friend showing up in the middle of the night, screw him,” Emma promised, and they laughed even harder. She didn’t even know how  _that_  had started - one day Emma woke up and Ruby was in her bed, and had just shrugged and let her sleep. After a while, Emma had realized that there was a pattern when it came to her friend letting herself into her bed: she did so on times when she was distraught or too drunk to drive or, sometimes, when she just missed her company - like when they spent too much time apart or working themselves to death. Emma had more than welcomed her whenever she showed up. 

It was  _their_  thing. 

To Emma’s surprise, Ruby’s voice turned softer and stuttering, and her chest ached as she realized that she was choking back tears. “You stayed with me, laying on the floor for hours, after what happened to Peter. You understand  _every_  text of mine even when it is damn illegible because autocorrect hates me. You know when I’m lying, upset or hiding anything from you.” She suddenly banged her fist over the armrest of the couch passionately, and Emma started, uneasy. “You’re the only one who gets my weird metaphors!” 

Emma smiled bemusedly, shaking her head. “Lemurs?”

Ruby nodded, eyes lit and expression turning dreamy. “Lemurs.”

(Don’t ask - lemurs were a Very Important Thing for Ruby, and so they were for her too.)

Ruby faced her, pulling her closer, and tipped her forehead against hers. “You’re my person, Emma Swan, and no hot surgeon is gonna change that.”

There were so many things to read in her friend’s face at that moment, but Emma focused in the truth that spilled from her words. The promise of never leaving her behind, of not becoming somebody else to abandon her, of being the special someone that she had been lucky to find and never let go. 

With a sigh, she crawled out of their sitting position on the couch and stood up, tiredly cracking her neck and offering a hand. “Come here.”

Ruby grinned, jumping for all purposes from her place, blanket in tow as she took Emma’s hand and walked beside her up the stairs towards the bedroom. They linked arms, and Emma had to bite back a laugh when they tripped with the hem of the blanket that kept dragging behind them on the floor. 

“Is there any hottie in here tonight?” Ruby inquired, and Emma giggled. 

“Apart from you? Sadly, no.”

“Good, because Victor invited a friend of his tomorrow who just moved here and he has the  _brightest_  blue eyes and I want you to meet him.”

“Ruby...”

Of course, her warning tone did nothing to stop her from singing this whatever Jones’ praises were, but Emma just did what she had always done. 

Be Ruby’s person.

 

(.)

 

“I hate you so much,” she gritted under her teeth the next day, after vows and rings had already been exchanged, bouquet thrown and picked up by a very flustered Ariel, and the reception had started. Ruby followed her gaze towards the blue-eyed,  _extremely_  attractive idiot who couldn’t stop grinning at her like she was the freaking sun, who had asked - or  _begged_  - her for a dance in exchange of him getting her a glass of champagne. Ruby merely winked, bumping her hip with hers. 

“I just want my lemur to be happy.”


End file.
